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The GCC Secretary General’s mistake

February 24, 2015 at 3:02 pm

Not long ago, I noted that the Secretariat General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) needed to be dismantled and re-structured, having taken no recognisable position on any of the GCC’s issues, neither internal nor external. It seems that the Secretariat is nothing but a “large GCC secretariat”, the tasks of which include keeping files, arranging ministerial meetings and receiving ministers.

At the same time, there are a number of political, security, military and economic threats that are currently looming over GCC states; and these states need a Secretary General who has creative and political capabilities and whose opinion is respected by everyone. The two most recent Secretary Generals, Abdullah Bishara and his successor Jamil Hejailan, were both figures who were respected by all during their terms. On the other hand, a Secretary General who is unable to predict such threats and risks, prepare a strategic plan to face them, and then submit them to the GCC states is not qualified or worthy of becoming a Secretary General to this Council, which is considered the largest and most important Arab economic council regionally, if not internationally. The Middle East may be considered one of the greatest and most dangerous geographic areas that may threaten the security and safety of the entire world if its political and economic balance is affected. It is the heart of the world’s security, and it is surrounded from every angle with predators because whoever controls this area controls the whole world.

On the morning of Thursday 19 February at 10:00 am local Riyadh time, Abdullatif Al-Zayani,the current GCC Secretary General, announced his rejection of the “accusations made by Egypt’s representative in the Arab League against Qatar regarding the state’s support of terrorism”, calling them “false accusations that defy the truth and ignore the sincere efforts of the State of Qatar with its sister countries in the Council to combat terrorism and extremism at all levels.” The statement made by Al-Zayani was completely true and indisputable. It is the duty of the GCC Secretary General to defend the positions of the GCC member states, and not to be biased in favour of parties that are outside the GCC.

The issue between Egypt and Qatar is their disagreement regarding the press release issued by the permanent representatives of the Arab League. The press release says that: “We welcome the air strike carried out by the Egyptian Air Force on Libyan territory”, a statement about which Qatar expressed reservations. Qatar did not deny Egypt’s right to defend itself by all means necessary, but the question that is raised here is why didn’t the Egyptian Air Force, who carried out this air strike on Libya under the pretext of revenge for the killing of 21 Egyptian Christians, use the same military resources to, rescue the 21 Egyptians before their execution in the first place? In fact, the actions of the Egyptian Air Force are considered, in accordance with international law, an attack on the sovereignty of another country without international or regional authorisation. The state of Qatar condemned the crime that was committed by terrorists against Egyptian citizens, and the sate confirmed its support of the Egyptian people and their defence of their legitimate rights, but it does not welcome blind revenge outside Egyptian territory. The second matter Qatar expressed reservations about was regarding “lifting the ban on armament”. Qatar’s position was made clear during the ministerial meeting held on 15 January, as it does not support the strengthening of one side over the other and it believes that the ban cannot be lifted before the end of Libyan national dialogue and the formation of a national Libyan unity government. What is the problem with such reservations? The problem is that Egypt wants to arm General Khalifa Haftar and his supporters who have separated from the leadership in the Libyan capital Tripoli. This is internationally unacceptable, and Qatar is a member of the international community.

On that same Thursday, shortly before noon, the aforementioned statement disappeared from the General Secretariat website, and Al-Zayani issued another statement contradicting the previous one. The new statement expressed the fact that “the GCC supports Egypt’s military measures against terrorist groups in Libya following the barbaric execution in Libya of 21 Egyptians by the terrorist Islamic State (ISIS) organisation.” If Al-Zayani wished to retract what he said that morning, then he should have omitted Libya from his second statement. The truth is that the Secretary General was not balanced in his second statement, as if he had not read the first nor the second statement with political caution in order to choose his words carefully.

Some have said on social networking sites that the first statementvwas issued from outside the Secretariat – if such a possibility is true, then it would seem more likely that the second statement, contradicting the first, is the one more obviously issued from outside the Secretariat. Either way, Al-Zayani bears the responsibility of the political turmoil these statements have caused.

In conclusion, if I were the Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council in Al-Zayani’s place, I would have immediately submitted my resignation, without hesitation, due to the frightening political turmoil my actions have caused.

Translated from Al-Araby Al-Jadid, 23 February, 2015.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.